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Portrait of Peter Beckford Esq: set in a classical interior scene with a column on the left and a window on the right. The sea can be seen from the window as well as a fort with a flying Union Jack. Beckford (bap. 1643, d. 1710), was a planter in Jamaica and politician. He founded the Beckford dynasty of plantation and slave owners. His son, Peter Beckford became Lord Mayor of London and one of the wealthiest men in Europe. His grandson squandered the family's enormous wealth, building the extravagant but short-lived Fonthill Abbey in the process.